Peter Donohue on UC's Hidden Wealth: Another Look

Donohue points to UC's unrestricted assets at CUE event at UCI in 2009. Photo © Daniel C. Tsang 2009.

UPDATED with audio link: To listen to the show, click here: .
Irvine -- It sure sounds like the University of California is in financial crisis, with layoffs, paycuts/furloughs, massive student fee increases and campus protests. But economist Peter Donohue still thinks otherwise, in another interview on KUCI's Subversity show.

Looking further at the UC's own financial statements, Donohue will let us know if he still finds that the UC has billions hidden away in its unrestricted reserves. The UC would say these funds are already committed, but Donohue says these are not legally restricted. They could be freed up to offset the massive loss of state funding. But unlike the CSU system, UC funding is only 13% -18% dependent on state sources. We'll talk to Donohue again about why the UC is pleading poverty.

The entire show airs Monday 25 January 2010 from 9-10 a.m. on KUCI, 88.9 FM in Orange County, California, and is simulcast via kuci.org. Donohue appears on the first part of the show.

Peter Donohue is an economist and head of San Francisco’s PBI Associates. Since 1982, he has assisted union, nonprofit, community and business groups with research, financial analysis, bargaining, arbitration and government relations. He advises clients in transport, construction, semiconductor, utility, printing, health care, retail, design, engineering, hospitality, transit, insurance, education and government. Donohue has taught at Portland State University, San Francisco State University, the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Texas at Austin and University of Missouri-Columbia.

He has compiled, for CUE (Coalition of University Employees), an updated analysis of the UC budget, which will be released shortly; we get a preview on this show. See, however, his earlier 1992 study: UC's Hidden Wealth: An Analysis of 10 Years of UC's Financial Reports.

See also Prof. Emeritus Charlie Schwartz's web site that tracks UC budget issues: UniversityProbe.org.

In out second part of the show, we air a dispatch from Making Contact.

To listen to our earlier 28 September 2009 show with Peter Donohue, click here: .